Evil Eye
by Xyrule
Summary: After the battle against Yami's Darkness Transformation, things seem to have gone back to normal until Nakamura Hiro, a first-year at Sainan High, rediscovers Nemesis and kick-starts a project surrounding all the Trans.
1. The Next Chapter

**And so it begins, a new era! As promised a few weeks ago, I've gone through and started updating the story, and this is the start of the result! I actually had help from a beta reader this time, who may or may not continue onwards depending on how busy he is, so I was only able to get four chapters as opposed to five, but I think you'll all appreciate the second opinion having it edited better than usual.**

 **Newcomers seeing this being posted to the archive won't care, but those who were around for the old story, things will be fundamentally different. There'll be actual arcs now as well as updating everyone's personalities and overhauling dead-end characters from last time. Basically, treat this as a different story. It will still be darker than canon, Nemoskull, but this time it will hopefully actually make sense instead of being a confusing mess of random plot points!**

* * *

The cool mid-August air was a welcome sign to the residents of Sainan that the impending chill of the soothing autumn winds was close to blasting away the blazing heat of summer. It was an uplifting start to the new semester, helping to offset the grim reality for the younger generation...school was starting once again.

Sainan High was no exception to this. The main locker room and hallways were filled with chatter as people got into their circles, each talking about what had gone on during the summer and what might happen during the remainder of the year. Everyone had chosen to, at least for the duration of the back-to-school excitement, ignore the incident that had happened the previous May, just before summer break had started.

The school was mostly untouched, but the grounds around it had scattered sections of new concrete, marking the scars that had been dug into the ground by the "Darkness Transformation". Throughout the city there were buildings still unusable after Darkness' attacks, as well as Momo's beanstalk used late in the battle. That was ignoring the dozens of female students who needed therapy after Darkness' unfounded obsession with the female body, which Yami had yet to explain.

Since the attack, the way the many aliens at school were treated appeared the same on the surface, but there was still some lingering tension. The three Devilukean princesses, who were all witnessed by many to have been actively fighting against the transformed Yami, were still generally accepted, living their life normally. For the generally harmless Ren and Run, things couldn't get any better. Especially so, for the young idol, whose fan-base only grew in the months following the attack. The incident had apparently forced the Japanese media to finally acknowledge the existence of extraterrestrials.

Murasame Shizu, the ghost-turned-cyborg who had also helped defend the school, was likewise elevated in status, and at least in the second year, where most of the aliens had their classes, her name was actually known now.

Somehow, Tearju Lunatique,the second-year teacher who had recently been outed as Yami's creator, still avoided retribution, possibly thanks to her being so clumsy and airheaded that nobody really quite believed that the connection was true, despite their physical similarities.

Of course, not everyone came out well after the incident. Kurosaki Mea had vanished without a trace before everything could die down, and her master was still at large. While Yuuki Rito's group, primarily Nana and himself, were affected by the disappearance, the Trans' absence had a fairly minimal effect on the rest of the student body, as she'd gained a reputation for having very little sense of personal space before then.

In the same vein, the school's principal had also disappeared after being warped away by Darkness. However, that was celebrated rather than ignored. Nobody had liked the principal, and while they didn't openly say it, some of the aliens probably hoped he had somehow made his way to another world and been subject to Devilukean law. He certainly deserved it, considering that, while his antics were far less common than Yuuki's, he had done everything intentionally. It really was good riddance, and the one act of kindness Darkness had performed.

Speaking of Darkness, Yami had been the most drastically changed by the incident, which made sense seeing as it was her own loss of control that caused the whole issue to begin with.

In the blink of an eye, what little reputation she had was shattered. In the week between the incident and summer break, she was actively avoided, suddenly public enemy number one despite painstakingly visiting everyone Darkness had affected to apologize personally. Now, after a few months to cool down, reaction would likely have died down, but she appeared rarely enough even before it had happened. Now, it was doubtful whether she'd show up at all to test that theory.

Over the summer, she had visited the Yuuki household and regained some form of shaky friendship with Mikan. However, the twins were much more vocal about their annoyance, despite understanding that Yami had not been in control at the time.

Rito, on the other hand, had uncharacteristically chosen to pretend she didn't exist. No matter how hard she tried, she never seemed to be able to find him so she could apologize and thank him for the major role he'd played in saving her from herself. It was an odd choice for the normally incredibly forgiving boy, but it was one that no one could decide but himself.

Still, the blonde Trans being missing on the first day of the new semester was nothing particularly unusual. Only time could tell what would happen with her. Today, life was not about aliens or attacks, it was simply about getting back into the school mindset and reuniting with friends.

"Hey, Nakamura-san!" called an excited boy, waving his hand in the air in typical exaggerated fashion as he ran up to his taller classmate. Though, just like usual, he'd been ignored by the boy who setting his outdoor shoes into his locker. "Oh, come on, we haven't seen each other all summer, say hi!"

"You live next door to me, Okamoto." Nakamura Hiro blankly stated as he turned and walked away.

"That doesn't count," Okamoto complained as he tried to tag long, "you can't call seeing each other when we get mail to be interacting!"

Though, rather suddenly, Hiro stopped dead in his tracks. Again he turned around, but this time to face the boy, and held his hand out. Not understanding, Okamoto stopped too, though all was made clear when Hiro pointed down and promptly said, "Change your shoes."

Okamoto blinked, still in a daze, before chuckling. "Right, sorry! I got so excited seeing you that I forgot!" he said as he rubbed the back of his head. Swiftly, he scampered over to his locker. "Wait for me!"

But of course, having heard that, Hiro would do no such thing. Instead, he turned away once more and made his leave, though not before letting out what he really thought of Okamoto to himself. "Annoying kid."

He was a first-year like the annoying Okamoto Rin, but unlike the short kid's fun-loving nature, he had become known as someone to keep away from. Being half-Canadian, he was more than a foot taller than every other student. He was also quite lanky, which was nothing to boast about, but that didn't matter to matter. He didn't need a huge build or bulging muscles to get any type of message across. He simply needed his eyes. His bright silver eyes. Eyes that when provoked, let out the most threatening and heart-stopping glare at anyone he directed them towards. A glare so frightening, it was only rivaled by that of Golden Darkness. However, he didn't feel the need to use this on just anybody. He chose to use it only on those he thought were causing trouble. So when the time came, he quickly dealt with them, bearing witness to their shattered bravado as they hid their tails between their legs before he'd quietly slip back into his normal routine.

He hadn't actually been present during the incident, or even during the following week, so he only knew about it from word of mouth as well as the news coming out about it during the summer.

He had been right in his distrust of the many aliens in the school. Though he didn't know any of them personally, he had seen how they acted before. Mea, with her lack of personal space. Nana and Momo, both acting way too innocent and cute for their own good. Run...well, he didn't have much to complain about with her. She seemed, for the most part, pretty laid back, and he liked her music so he didn't press as much with her.

Yami, on the other hand...well, that was a completely different story altogether. He outright hated her, and he was genuinely surprised that more people didn't. Constantly absent despite being a student, refusing to follow basic rules of conduct, and indiscriminately violent to anyone who so much as looked at her at the wrong angle. She was a recipe for disaster, and he enjoyed knowing that he had been absolutely correct. She was a threat, and the recent incident had proven without a shadow of doubt that she did in fact have the capacity to do some major damage.

It was his mantra, and it continued to play in his head even now. Aliens could not be trusted.


	2. A New Semester

As Hiro entered his homeroom, he briefly looked around to see who was there. There weren't many students here yet since he'd made sure to come early in his unsuccessful attempt to avoid Okamoto's greeting. The guy was harmless, but Hiro didn't particularly care for small talk.

His eyes and intimidating height often made people decide not to risk interacting with him, but here in this class they knew him a little better than everyone else, and while most of his classmates generally just pretended he didn't exist, others were more like Okamoto. From behind him, he could hear a faint "G-Good morning, Nakamura-san…" as he sat down at his seat, setting his school bag on his desk and resting an arm on his backrest so he could twist around to look at the short, mousy girl who sat behind him.

"What's up, Haruhi?" he asked, as she shrank back in her seat.

As expected, rather than speaking, she simply sat frozen in her seat. Her face went completely red as they stared at each other for several seconds, before he laughed and turned around, giving her mercy in only having to see his back. "You'll have to answer someday you know." he stated, giving her a thumbs-up over his shoulder. "Good luck!"

The dandere let out a small squeak, and shrank back into her seat as she said, "R-right...thank you, Nakamura-san…" before going quiet. Soon enough though, he could hear the nervous scratching of her pencil as she presumably distracted herself with her schoolwork.

Haruhi Saori was someone he considered trustworthy. He never had a reason to the girl any sort of trouble and her bashful nature was well known to those far less scarier than him. It was no wonder she found it hard to talk around him.

He smiled as he went back to looking through his bag, blinking as he realized he couldn't find the assignment he was looking for. It was not a good sign if on the first day of the semester, he didn't have the summer project with him. Had he left it somewhere? As any student who cared about his grades would, he started panicking, flipping through the papers and notebooks to find the lost assignment. He did not want to start off the semester without a major project in hand.

"Na-ka-mu-ra-saaan!" came a familiar voice near his ear as he stiffened where he stood, turning his head to face Okamoto, who stood way too close to him, his face split in his usual dumb grin. "Looking for this?" The boy held up the assignment, which as expected, was the one that had been missing, and Hiro quickly grabbed it from his hands, ruffling through the pages to make sure everything was in order as the boy sat down at the seat next to him, simply tossing his bag on the ground next to him and kicking his feet on the desk.

Okamoto's grin remained in full force as the papers were taken from him. "How did you get it?" the silver-eyed boy asked suspiciously, though now that he had the assignment in hand, he was nowhere near as panicked as before.

"I swiped it when I saw you at the locker room...I didn't finish mine so I needed to use yours!"

"You're going to get arrested someday." Hiro simply replied as he checked to make sure he had every page in order. "Hopefully you didn't need help with the history part, because I don't have a clue if I did any of that right."

"Nah, history's pretty much my only strong suit. It was the science part I needed help on." He sighed as he leaned back in his chair, ignoring the annoyed look he got from the kid sitting behind him. "You ditched me before I could ask, but how was your summer?"

"As it always is. You know that not a lot goes on at my place."

Okamoto frowned at the statement, before laughing, reaching to pat the boy on the back. Hiro, however, turned away at the motion. "You're such a downer sometimes, you know that? I invited you over a few times, but you always rejected me."

"We're not friends." Hiro bitterly replied. Okamoto sighed and shook his head, turning to face the front of the room.

"You'll figure it out someday...Anyway, Saero-sensei's normally here before everyone else. Think he finally broke his hip or something? I wouldn't put it past him."

"He's not that old, give him some credit. He's probably making schedules or something." The teacher generally was punctual, but even some of the earlier students were still trickling in, so it wasn't that strange not to see him yet. "And sit normally, you're bothering the other students."

Okamoto frowned, turning his head to pull an eyelid down with his finger and stick his tongue out. "It's not a big deal, we're not starting class yet so why worry so much?"

"Because irritating people is not a great way to make friends. Why do you think you've had to follow me around instead of actually meeting people? Besides, don't you have Kirishima to bother?"

Okamoto's frown deepened before he suddenly sank into his seat. The mention of the name was enough to get him to finally listen to Hiro's complaints. "Tabane-chan's been ignoring me recently. She stopped talking to me after everything went down in May."

"I didn't know she cared about the incident. She wasn't affected, was she?"

Okamoto laughed and shook his head. "No, she was retaking a test at the time. I went to watch from the window though, and well, you know how she is."

Hiro chuckled. The thought of the girl beating this kid into submission was too much for him to remain silent. "Even though you're not really dating, she still gets pretty jealous when you look at other women, huh? I'd thought she'd be sensible enough to know you're not interested in some alien, especially a psychotic one obsessed with sexual harassment."

The tense air around the boy lifted as he grinned at the statement. "She never liked Yami-senpai anyway, I think it just bothered her that I don't mind aliens. She'll probably come back to me soon now that we're back in school!"

Hiro smiled, before holding up a finger, spinning it in the air. "Think fast." he stated. Okamoto's eyes widened, but before the talkative kid could turn around, the spine of a textbook met the top of his head, sending him reeling as an annoyed Kirishima Tabane stood next to him.

It was well known that she hated their Trans upperclassman, her own reputation having been in constant jeopardy the semester before thanks to their similar appearance, though anyone who knew her could easily tell the difference. It was no wonder she was constantly at odds with the fun-loving Okamoto, who regularly attempted to speak to many of the aliens, usually with the result of him being ignored.

"How long do you think he'll be out?" Hiro asked as the girl sat down at her seat next to her friend, who now lay across the backrest of his seat, his pain only recognized by a small eep coming from Haruhi.

"I didn't hit him that hard, he'll be awake by the time class starts. How are you, Hiro-san?" she asked, smiling at him, and he returned the expression. Kirishima wasn't a bad person, and they got along relatively well, partly over their mutual annoyance with the unconscious student.

"I'm good, now that the nuisance is out of the way. Heard you've been avoiding him. Bet I can guess why."

She sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. "He wouldn't stop talking about that alien. I decided to cut off ties for the summer so he'd cool down and shut up about it. He's too clingy anyway, and I have better things to deal with than him."

"Harsh words from his girlfriend." he replied, laughing. However, she didn't find his joke so funny, evident with the glare she sent him. Hiro quickly got the message, waving his hands in a panic. "Alright, alright. You win. I want to start the semester right, so I'll concede."


	3. Classroom Quarrel

Hiro and Tabane continued to chat for the remaining minutes until their teacher finally came into the room, at which time Okamoto perked up again, groaning as he sat up, rubbing the sore spot on his head as he looked around. He remained quite though, knowing that he'd just be met with more retaliation if he bothered the two. Instead, he chose to sit quietly as the elderly teacher headed to his desk, arranging the pages he carried with him, presumably the day's notes.

Saero-sensei was old, but he was still observant, and required only a cursory glance to note the few absences, only a couple people who were known for being gone anyway, before coughing to clear his throat. "Yukihime-san, please start us off."

The class president, Yukihime Murano, nodded and stood up, raising a hand to push a large strand of black hair out of her face. She bowed before standing straight, looking forward at the teacher. "Stand. Bow. Sit." The practice was so common that every student performed it in time with everyone else, before they all sat down, and, with her role done, she sat too, allowing the elderly man to talk.

"Thank you, Yukihime-san." he stated, nodding to her and clearing his throat again. "Welcome to the new semester, everyone. I know you're all wanting to get right into it, but I do have a statement from the new principal, relating to the incident in May…"

A few students groaned, and Hiro slouched in his seat , crossing his arms in irritation. "We don't need more crap about the aliens." he said aloud. A couple kids looked in his direction, while Yukihime stood up again, setting her hand on her desk to pose threateningly.

She glared at Hiro. "Not everyone can just sit aside and look down on everyone, Nakamura-sama. It affects you too! You're not immune just because you weren't around!"

He sighed, shaking his head and looking at her, not bothering to even glare. She usually attacked him like this, so it was pretty much routine. The fact that nobody reacted made it clear they understood too. There wasn't a point in getting involved and it was easier to let the two cool down. "I'm aware of that, Yukihime. But it's not like anything's really changed, has it? Darkness isn't the only alien to screw up a lot of people, the others have as well."

The class president's face went red with anger at his implication, but before she could speak, she was interrupted by Saero-sensei, who coughed into his hand to catch their attention.

"Yukihime-san, Nakamura-san, while I normally allow it, this is important. Please calm down and listen…" The old man was soft-spoken, but it was rare that he spoke against the disturbances of the classroom. The two shut up immediately, knowing very well that if he was actually going to speak up, then whatever he had to say was actually important.

"Fine. But Nakamura-sama-" Yukihime said, before cutting herself off at the teacher's disappointed expression.

"Nakamura-san was simply stating his opinion, Yukihime-san. We all know how he feels about extraterrestrials. You, on the other hand, have a reputation to uphold." He turned to the target of her anger, who sat with his arms crossed, pointedly looking forward and keeping her out of his line of sight. "And Nakamura-san, you and Yukihime-san should at least try to get along…"

"Not going to happen." Hiro stated with a tone of finality. "Just give the stupid speech."

With the situation defused, at least enough for them to be quiet, Saero-sensei nodded, looking down at the papers in front of him. "Right...Anyway, now that that's handled, our new principal, Gabrielle Dunois for those who just tossed the pamphlet when it was mailed to you, has a...different stance on the many non-human species currently attending the school. Unlike Narawatsu-hakase-"

"Who is that?" Okamoto asked, confused by the statement.

Saero-sensei shook his head. "My apologies. I suppose most of the students never knew his name. He was the previous principal." he answered. "...Anyway, unlike him, Dunois-hakase has a zero tolerance policy on perverse behavior, which I'm sure many of you will be happy to know. In a similar vein, she is also planning on cracking down on delinquent behavior. However, she does understand that there are rivalries amongst the students, so it will be handled by class disciplinary officers. Yukihime-san, as we don't have one, enforcement goes to you. As for the number of extraterrestrials and how they'll be handled...The second and third year classes will deal with them independently, so this will only apply to those in first year. Dunois-hakase had a particularly long rant about them, so I'll paraphrase it since we need to get started on normal matters."

The man took a breath before continuing. "Any aliens you meet are not to be treated any differently than normal. Any out of line behavior or potential repeats of May are to be handled only by staff and disciplinary officers, as is the same with any human students. The same applies for staff members such as Tearju-sensei."

In other words, ignore everything. It pissed Hiro off, but he didn't really want to deal with Yukihime shouting at him again, so he kept quiet as Saero-sensei went over a few other, more minor points, before clearing his desk and turning to write on the board.

"Now then, with that all out of the way, let's discuss the schedule. There won't be any changes other than reduced gym time, but that shouldn't be a major issue since it's the fall semester now. However, despite the lack of change, everyone should still be sensible and stay away from trouble. In mundane news, we'll be adding some kanji from last semester to the curriculum to make up for time lost as a result of the various activities that happened last semester."

Surprisingly minimal changes considering how many times classes had been interrupted, and from what Hiro heard, the same had happened the year before as well. In any case, class resumed as normal now that everything was handled, other than brief glances from Yukihime and Okamoto towards him.

It wasn't that he'd started the day in a bad mood, but there was a certain point when it was too much. He had guessed correctly in his distrust of the aliens, but that didn't mean he wanted to constantly hear about them either. Now that things were back to normal class time, he could calm down and think straight, following along with the lessons with his notes. He may have buttons that could be pressed, but that didn't mean he couldn't be focused on academics.

It certainly helped that today's lessons were almost exclusively review for the previous semester, meaning he could simply lose himself in recitation of old assignments, idly raising his summer assignment as Yukihime stood up to collect them while Saero-sensei droned on about three different spellings of the same syllable. Japanese was confusing...

At least getting rid of the assignment and leaving it in Yukihime's hands meant if it somehow got lost on the way to the teacher's desk, it was entirely on her, though he did briefly wonder how obvious it would be that Okamoto had cheated off him. This wasn't the first time he'd done something of the sort despite it being well known that Hiro didn't particularly appreciate his presence.

Maybe he was too harsh on the kid. Okamoto was fun-loving and had expressed the desire to make Hiro more interested in other people, and he was genuine in his motivations. It was just that he was annoying in his actions that made him unlikable.

The fact that he kept trying to get Hiro's attention throughout class only lead Hiro to shut him out, focusing entirely on his work for the next several hours.

Lunch didn't come quickly enough, and when Saero-sensei finally slowed down his droning, Hiro was more than ready to pull out his bento and leave class as soon as he could, heading down the hallway at a pace he doubted could easily be followed. It wasn't necessarily Okamoto either, he just really didn't want to deal with Yukihime without the instructor around to break them up.

He pondered where he'd go, knowing he definitely wasn't going to eat in the classroom. After thinking about it, he decided to head up the nearest stairwell, heading towards the roof as he'd seen some of the older students do.

As he went up the stairs, he briefly turned his head as he caught the familiar voice of Momo Deviluke, who was heading downwards with her twin sister whose name he didn't really remember. The two were popular among first years, but other than being aliens, there really was nothing special about them. No sense lingering on the thought any longer as he continued upward.


	4. Crash Landing

Surprisingly, no one was on the roof today, meaning Hiro could sit down on his own, leaning on the railing keeping people from falling off the edge. He doubted Okamoto or Yukihime would find him here before lunch break ended, so he had plenty of time to enjoy his lunch.

He prided himself in his cooking. He did have a guardian, his older cousin Yuri, but her schedule and his were almost total opposites, so they rarely saw each other. Essentially, he more or less raised himself.. It was fairly lonely, but he didn't mind it. Better than dealing with Okamoto all the time at least.

He didn't really mind the attention as much as he let on, but he didn't want to deal with constantly having chatter thrown at him as well. Okamoto was a good kid, but he was loud and didn't really know when to quit, and Yukihime...well, he had a history with her, one he didn't like thinking about. Suffice it to say that they just didn't get along anymore.

Haruhi was the opposite, but she was equally annoying in her own way. Yes, being quiet and reserved was nice, but she could barely talk without stuttering. And when she did manage to speak clearly, it was punctuated by her constantly nervous tone of voice. Really, in the group of people he often spoke to, none were particularly likable for long periods of time, but in short bursts all was fine.

Still, he much preferred this quiet over that any time. He was used to it after all, and it had become something of a safe haven for him.

Of course, Murphy's Law exists, and the second he lifted his chopsticks to eat, a blast of wind shot towards him. Instinctively, he closed his eyes, feeling the food he'd been about to eat get knocked from his grip and whiz past his face, though he was quick-thinking enough to cover the remainder with his hand to keep it from flying away too.

As the wind blew, he became aware of a series of sounds like water hitting the ground, before the wind suddenly stopped entirely, followed by a thud as something hit the ground near him. He turned his head to take a look, but as the wind died down, something soft latched itself onto his face. Whatever it was, he didn't know. He just knew being blinded out of nowhere wasn't the most enjoyable thing in the world.

He opened his eyes, reaching to take off whatever was blocking his vision. It turned out to be some kind of fabric, at least, from what he can tell. It was translucent and completely shredded, completely useless for whatever purpose it had.

Of course, some piece of cloth wasn't as important as what he saw next. He closed his bento box and stood up to investigate.

Whatever it was, it was covered in some kind of weird black substance that shone in curved patterns in the light like obsidian. When he poked it, it shifted, much to his surprise. He backed up, before the edges, fanning out across the ground around the still form and making it easier to tell what this was.

Some kind of thread, covering a light brown form below, which shifted again as he stepped back, unsure how to react. When the thread fell away from the front, he jolted, falling back on his rear as he found himself staring at a face.

A girl, apparently covered in a layer of thin black hair. Now that he realized it was a person, he could more easily tell what she looked like despite not being able to see much.

She was short, very short compared to him, and she was tanned, an odd sight considering how pale everyone else he knew were. However, that wasn't as surprising as her face.

Her mouth was formed into a frown, and she met his stare without hesitation, bright gold eyes meeting his silver. The realization that she was continuing to maintain eye contact rather than looking away was a surprise, especially with her barely conscious and her eyelids droopy. He didn't break their gaze either, until he noticed her mouth starting to move.

"Lift me up." she let out, though her words were drawn out and took several seconds to force out. Her eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance as he simply stared blankly at her. "I fell."

Her words were minimal due to the effort of trying to speak, but he got the point anyway. Of course, whatever had happened, right now she was probably paralyzed, though her tone didn't sound like that of an injured person.

He reached forward to grab her by her shoulders, pushing to lift her to a sitting position, before blinking as the hair started to slip again...She wasn't wearing anything, was she?

"Don't worry...pervert." she said, her mouth lifting in an attempt at a grin. However, it fell quickly. Whatever had befallen her, it was seriously effective at completely shutting her down. It was a wonder that she could talk.

He shook his head, turning away as he adjusted her to balance on her knees, not wanting to go through the process of trying to cross her legs as well...plus, if she wasn't wearing a shirt, he doubted she had anything else. At least the strands of hair conveniently blocked out anything important.

"Who are you?" he asked, turning to face her again now that she was sitting up straight, though he had to look down thanks to how short she was.

"Nemesis." she stated simply, making eye contact again. Her expression was slightly less vacant, now that she had time to start adjusting. Her hands rested on her lap though, as she still unable to do more than shift her face slightly. "Thank you…" She trailed off.

"Nakamura Hiro." he stated. She slowly nodded, a very minor movement that was only made just enough to get the point across. "Are you...okay?"

She was silent, before her expression seemed to change, wordlessly saying "Are you serious?" as her head moved from side to side.

"Tired. Why am I tired…? I shouldn't be tired…" She was talking more clearly now, able to form slightly longer sentences as she blinked a few times, the droopiness of her eyelids still obvious despite the sharp gaze her eyes gave towards him. Whatever was happening, it was only her body that was slow. Her mind was still sharp.

"Where did you come from? People don't just appear-" Midway through the question, his eyes widened as she simply stared at him with no change in expression. He sighed, raising a hand to plant firmly against his face. "You're...an alien, aren't you? I just helped an alien…"

Oddly, there was no change in her face at the realization, her gaze still pointed directly at him. "Depends on your definition. I was born on Earth..." she replied, her eyes darting down to her lap as her fingers started twitching, signalling that feeling was slowly returning to her body. "But, yes, alien I am. That's not unusual, is it?"

Now, her speech was almost normal again, her voice slightly higher-pitched now that she had near-full control and her grammar back to normal.

"No, it's not, but...I really don't like aliens." Yes, she was only just now starting to be able to move, but she was clearly unharmed otherwise. No reason to sugarcoat how he felt about her kind.

Surprisingly, unlike the frown or the complaint he expected, he instead got a laugh, slightly hoarse but still obvious in tone.

"Well, well, someone with some sense. Everyone in this city seems to forget how dangerous we can be."

He stared at her for several seconds, before nodding. "And that whole thing with Yami didn't help."

She nodded, grinning as her stare became stronger. Her eyes opened fully, and he felt himself draw back to where he was before as she continued to stare. He got the feeling he had met someone who could be very strong if she wanted to be. "Konjiki no Yami, Golden Darkness...Now there's a particularly dangerous one."


	5. Will

"So...this is still Sainan." Nemesis said, closing her eyes and humming to herself in thought. "But it's already August...Well, even I don't know the exact mechanism at which I reform. I suppose it's entirely possible it took a while. Hiro-chan, will you tell me how I appear? I hope I didn't change too much this time. I quite liked my default…"

He blinked a few times, before shaking his head. Probably some weird biological trait of hers, he knew that some species changed appearance occasionally. Case in point, the school idol. "First of all, don't call me 'chan'. And second, you're...uhh, tanned. Kind of short too. Your hair is black and ridiculously long. Also, you have gold-"

"I know about my eyes." she interrupts, shaking her head. "They're the one constant, it seems. Well, it sounds to me that, if you're accurate, I haven't changed too drastically. That's nice."

"Do you often have this happen to you?"

"No, this is...I believe the third time. I don't really recall the last two though, they were short and meaningless." She sighed as she looked down at her lap again. "It'll take me a while before I can move fully, so until then I'm basically stuck here. So, mister alien-hater, what do you think you'll do before then? After all, you said it yourself, I can't really be trusted even in this state."

The disconnect between the implication of her statement and the sheer calm in her voice unnerved him, and the feeling only increased when she met his eyes with the full force of her stare.. Even with her barely moving and outright telling him she was defenseless, that stare told him all he needed to know.

This girl was not a regular alien like Run, and she wasn't unassuming like Momo. Whoever she was, even in the state she was in now, he knew those eyes well. They were not the eyes of a weakling. They were not features shown by normal people. It wasn't quite scary, but it was deeply unsettling, enough that he felt himself squirming where he sat.

It really put into perspective how people must feel when he turns his own gaze to them.

But he couldn't get stuck on the gaze when she'd asked him a question. With a sigh, he set his bento box on the ground in front of her before putting a hand on his knee to help him stand. "I'm not interested in having blood on my hands, especially since as far as I know you didn't do anything wrong. I hate your kind, but that doesn't mean I think all of you are automatically evil. Just a few."

He turned around to head back to the door into the building, before stopping as he heard her laugh again.

"I'll be here all day if you change your mind!" she called. "Just come on by whenever you decide!"

"See ya then." he replied, waving as he headed into the building. Of course, he had no intent of showing up again, he saw little reason to. She was practically a child after all. Even if she was stronger than she looked, there were plenty of stronger beings around the city.

It felt odd trusting in aliens to handle a potential threat, but it was undeniable that he as a human could only fight against other humans. Let them handle their terrorists, he could do his part and kick bullies down where they stood. It was stupid to think any normal person could handle the enemies from space.

Even in May, Darkness probably would have succeeded in whatever bizarre goal she had if the Devilukeans hadn't been there. Even he had to admit that they'd been the world's saviors.

Let them handle their own matters, and he'd stay out of it. No saving an innocent one, and no attacking the guilty. He had no reason to get involved.

Still, as lunch ended and the day dragged on, he found his thoughts continually returning to the odd girl on the roof. Had she eaten yet? He hadn't exactly given her his lunch simply out of not being hungry himself, his stomach had been growling ever since then. She'd better have eaten, otherwise his suffering was a total waste.

Then again, maybe she still couldn't move enough to pick it up. When he'd left, she had only regained the strength to twitch her hands after all, so maybe her motor control wasn't back to standard. She did say it would take her a while to function properly again.

The thing that bothered him the most, and stuck strongest in his thoughts, was her tone. Maybe it was just how her species were, but she sounded very calm about apparently having to regain control of her body, and it sounded like she considered it like a new life. Being so resigned to death like that...It really didn't sit well with him.

"It's just like Seito-kun." he muttered to himself, before groaning as Saero-sensei called his name.

"Since you're volunteering, please repeat the phrase 'The clear-winged fairy flew into the sky' in English." the teacher stated, and he blinked in confusion.

"This is history class though." he replied, and Saero-sensei nodded.

"So you were paying attention. Good for you."

~~~After School~~~

Hiro sighed to himself as he walked up the stairway again. His concern had won out over his logic, so he found himself heading back up to the roof, his legs moving despite his mind telling him to head back home.

His fleeting hope that Nemesis had left already was dashed as he stepped onto the roof, easily spotting her still sitting in the exact same position, slightly shaded now as the late afternoon sun was behind her.

Somehow, though, she seemingly hadn't moved an inch. The bento lay empty next to her, carefully closed and the chopsticks left on top. He briefly noted that they'd been very poorly broken, as if she had little experience with them. She probably did, now that he thought about it.

"You weren't lying, were you?" he asked as he walked up to her, and now that he was standing above her, the light was indirect enough that he could see her eyes closed and face relaxed, though her expression twitched as he stepped in front of her, signalling that she was in fact awake.

"I can be sly, but I've never lied in my life." she replied with the same monotone as before. Her eyes opened once again and looked up to meet his, her expression softer than before. So, unlike him, she could control her gaze. "So, did you end up deciding to kill me after all? I'm not particularly strong, even an average human like you could easily dispatch me."

He shook his head, bending down to take her arm, wrapping it over his shoulder before he groaned as he straightened his legs to stand, dragging her up to rest on him. "I'm above average, actually. I win most fights I get in."

As expected from the oddly stoic alien, she made little sound as she was lifted, simply allowing her weight to shift under his command. "And now you pass up bragging rights for...what exactly? Where are you taking me now? Or perhaps you're simply finding somewhere more private…"

The expression on her face made it clear she'd made an intentional double entendre, but he simply shrugged it off. "I'm taking you to see Mikado-sensei." he said flatly, and she blinked in surprise. "She'll know better than me how to deal with you. I'm not an idiot, I know when I'm out of my league."


	6. Recovery

It was a good thing the school tended to clear out quickly, meaning he didn't have to run into anyone. It would be hard to explain his carrying a naked loli down the hallway to a hall he never went to.

He was aware of Mikado-sensei's nature, given that his father had gone to Sainan High. She'd been working there back then too, so the man had informed him. There wasn't usually a need to intentionally go near another alien, even if she was experienced enough to be able to keep her head down. Luckily for him, he'd never had any real issues, so he'd never been brought there.

Now, however, he regretted not bothering to at least walk down that way, because he had to essentially drag Nemesis' limp body around multiple paths while he searched for the room. The nurse wasn't someone he cared for, but her knowledge of alien biology was unparalleled.

"So...who is 'Mikado-sensei', and why are you taking me to her?" the girl he carried asked, letting her head rest on his shoulder. She couldn't do much about the situation anyway, so might as well be a little comfortable on the ride. "And you really turned around with your opinion on me, didn't you? I mean, a couple hours ago you were telling me how much you hate my kind, but now you're taking me-"

His eyebrow twitched in annoyance, and he shifted to smack his elbow into her stomach, knocking her breath out to cut her off. "Just shut up or I'll leave you somewhere. Do you want me to help, or not?" As she went quiet, he nodded in satisfaction as he continued to walk. "Mikado-sensei is the school nurse. She's an expert in health, for _all_ species. She'll know what to do."

"...You're-" She cut herself off, going silent as she simply allowed him to carry her, not wanting to finish whatever she had planned on saying as he made his way the remaining distance to the office.

The door was ajar already, so he pushed it open with his shoulder, looking around to find the nurse, who turned in her chair at his presence.

The woman's shirt was partly unbuttoned, meaning that she wasn't doing anything important. Hiro brought the girl to the first bed he saw, setting her down as Mikado-sensei got out of her chair, walking over to the two calmly, experienced enough to be able to see that this wasn't an emergency just by glancing at the two.

"What happened?" she asked, helping him to lay the girl down comfortably. She smiled as Nemesis glared up at her.

"I don't really know, but she can-" Hiro started, but was interrupted as the nurse raised her hand.

"I understand now. Nemesis has come to me in the past, I'm aware of how she ticks."

Nemesis' glare didn't fade in the slightest. "And the last time I came, you treated me like a guinea pig."

The nurse's smile only widened at the accusation, her eyes closing as she went to her desk to pick up a stethoscope. "No, I said you were a curiosity. You're an oddity after all. It's no wonder Nakamura-san here wouldn't know how to handle you. Even I'd have had trouble if I didn't have prior experience with your...relatives."

Hiro sat at a chair nearby, not sure what to do in this situation. He had no part in their conversation after all, and trying to figure out the topic through the banter and odd names they spoke only proved too confusing to bother with.

"Nakamura-san." Mikado-sensei said softly, catching his attention as he turned to face her. "How did you meet Nemesis? It's somewhat rare for someone like her to talk to a human on equal terms." Her eyes shifted to the girl, who remained silent. "Not every extraterrestrial wishes to remain hidden after all."

The woman turned back to her work, letting Hiro watch in silence as she ran the usual basic tests. They were nothing particularly different from how she'd treat a human, and once she'd finished, she stepped back, tapping her chin with one of the ends of her stethoscope. "Hmm...It's rare for you to come to me like this, Nemesis. You're hardly ever driven to this weakened state, what have you been doing in the last few years?"

"If that's a joke, it isn't funny." the short girl replied, giving no answer.

Mikado-sensei chuckled at her defiant tone, turning to the human and sighing. "Well, she's able to move her fingers just fine, and her head's almost at normal motor function, but everything else is almost totally frozen. It's not dangerous to her species, but she won't be able to move or eat on her own for about two weeks. Unfortunately, all of the stasis labs I control are either taken or down for maintenance, so I won't be able to take care of her myself. I know it's a bit much to ask, but do you mind handling her for the time it takes her to recover?"

Hiro blinked at the question, and Nemesis laughed from where she lay. "He hates us, why would he take care of me? I still don't even get why he brought me to you. I'll be fine on my own, I never eat anyway so-"

"You're rambling again." Hiro stated flatly, cutting her off as she turned her head to face him, though from her position it was awkward to hold her gaze properly. "Do you always talk in circles like that?"

The tanned girl was silent for several seconds, before laughing again, turning to look up at the ceiling. "When I'm reborn, there's always some little changes to my personality. Last time, I was obsessed with dominating people below me. Before that, I had a really weird constant craving for baklava. Before that...My memory falls apart before then. Anyway, maybe this time, I've developed a bit of ADHD…"

"You didn't answer me, Nakamura-san." the nurse said, ignoring her ranting as only a professional could. "She is making light of it, but Nemesis is a unique case among extraterrestrial species. I can't just let her go on her own. Either her or someone else will be in danger. She has no living family, nor does she have a home planet, and I can't simply give her one of my underground bases as I do with Yami-san and other high-importance species."

"So why do I have to take care of her? You know I'm trustworthy enough not to go around blabbing about meeting some new alien. I don't want anything to do with them."

The woman sighed in disappointment at the harsh tone he spoke with, before nodding. "That's exactly why you're the best person to trust with this. Your family has known and trusted me with advice for multiple generations. Now this is just you having your turn."

"...You're not suggesting that my father was an alien, are you?" he asked. She laughed, waving a hand in the air to quickly shoot down the question.

"No, no, your family are very much human. The point is, Nemesis will be safest with you and your cousin than with anyone else in this world. If you don't like the idea of taking care of an alien, then think of it as helping an injured girl heal!"

After thinking in silence for several seconds, he shook his head. "You don't need to convince me. I already dragged myself into this when I went back up to get her, so I might as well stick with it to the end."

"That's nice and all, but I have one question." Nemesis said, catching their attention as they turned to face her. "...Can I have some clothes? It's cold in here."


	7. Nakamura Yuri

**This is more an update for people who read DDKDC's story "Snapped" as opposed to this one, so if you don't know it, then ignore the bold.**

 **You've probably seen his update by now and are aware that Snapped is officially abandoned and open for use, so as his friend and a somewhat long-time reader of the story, I thought I'd try being the one to handle the rewrite. I know, I know, I'm already doing this now, so why start another so soon? Well, he's actually the beta for this story and I beta'd the first chapter of his rewrite before it was abandoned, and we've had some back and forth on the state of his works, so I figured I'd resurrect the series. More information on it whenever I get to publishing the first chapter. Probably a couple days. Also please don't bother him about it.**

* * *

"...Hiro-chan, what are you doing?" Nemesis asked, resting her head on Hiro's shoulder, now wearing a loose-fitting school uniform Mikado-sensei happened to have. Currently, the human was pressed against a wall, looking around a corner into the main hallway of the building.

"Making sure Okamoto and Yukihime isn't here. If either of them saw you, there'd be a lot of questions even if your identity didn't get revealed somehow."

"You don't seem like the type of person to be hiding behind walls like this." she deadpanned as he shook his head.

"Normally I'm not, but when either of them are involved, even I have to take measures to avoid them. Normally I'm not really the kind of person to bring people in tow, or really touch people at all, so you'd just raise a lot of questions."

"...Did I get involved with an even weirder person than I am?" she asked, as he shrugged in response. Finally, after some time, he stepped out from his hiding place, carefully balancing her on the lockers so he could change to his outdoor shoes, shaking his head in frustration.

"I should warn you about my cousin before we get home.. She's-"

"A xenophobe like you?" Nemesis finished.

He shook his head at the question. "No, she's not like me at all. She's obsessed with them, and ever since Lala showed up and caused all those other ones to come out of the woodwork, she's only gotten more interested. When we get home, you'll probably get barraged with questions, so...Just tell her you're basically normal."

She tilted her head, before laughing as he picked her up, adjusting her on his back again and heading outside. "Are you telling me to lie? What happened to not trusting me?"

"It's different when I tell you to. Besides, Mikado-sensei seemed to trust you, and even though she's one of your kind too, I believe her word. I'll let most of it slide unless I have good reason not to believe that you're harmless."

"Well, I guess I shouldn't really question it, you're helping me out. I won't take up too much space though. I can handle whatever your cousin asks me, and since I don't need to move or eat all that much, you can just set me down somewhere and-"

"Nemesis. You're ranting again. I'm not going to just ignore you, you have to be taken care of until you're back to full capacity, right? And Caitlyn won't help, she spends most of her time working or sleeping. Sometimes both."

"So you're something like the housekeeper then?" she asked, and he nodded in affirmation.

"Basically, yeah. I handle all the cooking and cleaning, and she supports us."

"What about your parents?" the alien asked, and he went silent, his eyes narrowing at the question before he focused entirely on walking.

The remainder of the walk to his house was spent in total quiet, as Nemesis gave up soon on trying to get him to speak. It was a sore topic, evidently.

However, the silence was cut short as he turned to the pathway into a small one-story house. He shifted himself to set her down onto one of the rocking chairs on the deck while he unlocked the front door, before picking her up again and bringing her inside.

Inside, the house had a basic layout, a living room with two couches set perpendicular to each other around a coffee table and a counter separating the room from the kitchen, along with a hallway at the back connecting to several other rooms. Not particularly complex, but it still seemed homely enough despite the notable dust on some of the cabinets and a large closed-off bookshelf on one wall. Nemesis, at least, seemed interested enough to look around while Hiro took off his shoes and headed down the hallway.

The girl noted the details of the room before turning her attention to the hallway as Hiro talked to the still-unseen cousin through one of the doors.

"Caitlyn, get up. Yes, I'm aware it's 4 in the afternoon, but I need you to meet someone." A thump from inside the room, and a series of unintelligible moans soon followed, causing the boy to shake his head in frustration. "We're going to have someone living with us for a while. Probably two weeks or so." More groans. "I'll take care of her, just wanted you to know so you wouldn't be surprised. She's an alien."

At the statement, a loud thud came from the room, and Hiro flinched at the sound. He stepped back as the door burst open. A half-dressed woman with matted hair and tired eyelids stared at the boy in an expression of combined confusion and shock.

"What race?" she asked, her voice quick despite her obvious exhaustion. "Devilukean? Balkean? Ragnarian?...Kirarian? Please don't tell me they're one of those jokers."

Hiro held his hands up as if to protect himself from his cousin, shaking his head and stepping back. "No, she's none of those...I don't really know what race she is. Put some clothes on and you can-"

"Clothes can wait, I have to see this." Yuri stated flatly, standing straight and pushing him aside. She closed the door behind her and stomped down the hallway, before stopping at the entrance to the front room. She stared at the tanned girl sitting on their couch, who stared right back without hesitation.

"So you must be Nakamura Caitlyn-chan." Nemesis stated, and the woman's eye twitched.

Yuri turned around, wrapped her arm around Hiro's neck, and pulled him down to her side, rubbing the top of his head with a fist as she frowned. "You really told her to use that name? It's Yuri! Yuri! Not Caitlyn!"

Hiro fought to release himself, but Yuri's grip was too strong as Nemesis blinked. "Is...that not your name? Why does he call you that, then?"

The woman sighed, finally letting the boy go. Hiro stood up again, swaying back and forth as he regained his balance while she crossed her arms. "I'm his cousin on his mother's side, and our side of the family is Canadian, so I was born Caitlyn Moreau. Now I go by the Nakamura name though, and Yuri's my new given name. It makes living in Japan a lot easier. By the way, your name is…?"

"Nemesis. No Japanese name though, I don't really think any fit me."

Yuri nodded, looking the alien over. "That's fine, and most people in Sainan are bilingual anyway so it shouldn't be too hard to pronounce for the majority. Might bring up some awkward jokes though, but you seem like a nice kid. I hear you're an alien. What species? What homeworld?"

Hiro sighed, but Nemesis simply laughed at the questioning. "Hiro-chan told me you'd start asking me stuff. Isn't it kind of rude to ask someone their race though? I mean, I can't even move right now and I'm already getting discriminated against!"

"Hey, I'm not like this idiot. I like aliens, and I've worked with several in the past. My line of work tends to have a lot of odd people coming and going. Well, if you managed to get my racist cousin here to take care of you, then I guess you're probably not in any condition to bear the full brunt of my interrogation, are you? You get off for now, but you've made me curious."


	8. The Third Trans

**Sorry, I had finished the chapter already and forgot to upload it!**

* * *

Hiro hummed to himself as he went about the kitchen, grabbing the ingredients necessary for the day's dinner as Nemesis watched from her spot on the couch. By now, Yuri had vanished into one of the other rooms, having only bothered to put on a thin oversized shirt to cover herself. Not that it mattered since she hadn't shown up since the initial meeting.

"Your cousin seems nice. Completely opposite from you at least." Nemesis stated, breaking the silence as Hiro turned his head to her, before going back to what he was doing.

"She's an adult, and she was raised differently. My father's side of the family is the crazy one."

"Where are your parents now? Overseas?"

"Dead." he replied. Nemesis reeled back in surprise at the monotonous way he made the statement.

"...Oh. Uh…"

"Don't say you're sorry or anything, it doesn't matter. And that has nothing to do with my lifestyle, I've always hated bullies, so it's gotten me into trouble before. Nothing's changed except Caitlyn's living here now."

"Why do you call her by that instead of her new name?" Hiro didn't seem the type to talk much from her early interactions with him, so now that he was answering, it was a good opportunity.

"Names hold meaning. I don't believe you can just start calling someone by something else and brush it off easily. I'm sure you've noticed by now that I don't use honorifics and never refer to anyone except family by their given names."

She was about to reply before he waved his hand in the air. "Anyway, I don't have to feed you specially or anything, do I? I don't have much experience with taking care of injured people, as you can probably tell."

"No, I can handle that myself. Just...move me to a seat."

"It's not time yet, it'll be about 20 minutes before we eat. Caitlyn probably won't be joining us too. She usually ghosts around midnight so I leave leftovers for her."

"Do you usually eat alone?" Nemesis asked, and he shrugged.

"Yeah, but that's fine by me. Generally I just read or something while I'm eating. I don't have a very interesting home life."

"So why doesn't Yuri-chan join you then? Isn't family supposed to be together a lot?"

He laughed at the question, shaking his head as if it was much funnier than it really was. "She works through the night and sleeps during the day. Normally she wouldn't even be up before 8. We hardly ever see each other most of the time. She's always secluded in her workroom even when our schedules do overlap."

"...You two are both really boring." she said flatly. Hiro nodded, grinning as he headed out of the kitchen and sat down on the other couch next to her, as he didn't need to do anything while the food cooked.

"A boring life is a safe one, don't you think? I mean, considering how we met, I'm sure you'd agree."

"Safety is overrated, you humans are just too fragile. Stick your neck out a little more."

"Well, which of us is paralyzed from the neck down?" he asked, grinning at her.

"Which of us has living parents?" she retorted, before flinching. "Sorry, that might have been a bit-"

He cut her off with a laugh, leaning back in his seat. "That was a good comeback, don't worry about it. Maybe you'll be entertaining after all. Who knows, maybe it's a good idea to have some more excitement around here." He hummed to himself for a few seconds, fishing for a new topic to move onto. "So…"

"What does Yuri-chan do exactly?" the alien asked, cutting him off from whatever thought he was formulating. "I was always under the assumption that humans have to leave their homes to work."

He shrugged at the question, turning his head to look down the hallway before facing her again. "I don't really know. She just told me that she's continuing the family business, and not to go in her office. It makes sense, I know I'd hate it if people bothered me when I was in the middle of something important. She probably does something tech-related."

"She does seem like the type." Nemesis replied, before going quiet, the two spending the remaining time in silence, having nothing left to say or do. Not that Nemesis could do anything anyway.

~~~20 minutes later~~~

As Hiro put the remaining touches to the food, Nemesis now sitting on one of the chairs by the dining table, having been moved there by him earlier. While she wasn't outwardly showing any signs of hunger, the growling of her stomach made it obvious she was still reacting to the smell as he turned to the table, setting down the two plates and sitting next to her.

"...How exactly are you going to eat?" he asked. She grinned, looking down at her plate as he watched.

After a few seconds, strands of her hair extended, stretching from her head down to the chopsticks he'd laid out, and the uncoordinated breaking of the wood made it clear why she'd messed it up when she was on the roof. However she was doing this, she didn't have a whole lot of control.

Still, it was a bizarre sight. Hiro leaned back in his chair, shocked and wide-eyed as she brought her food to her mouth, the act more controlled than he would have expected from the initial action.

"You...can move your hair?" he asked, and she smiled as she chewed the bite, swallowing it before waving the chopsticks in the air.

"Not just my hair, every cell in my body can do stuff like this. I'm not as good as Mea, nor do I have the power that Konjiki no Yami wields, but it's enough to get around."

"...So, that's what you are." he stated, before shaking his head as he went to start eating his own food. "A Transformation Weapon."

"Trans. I'm no weapon, just an experiment." she replied offhandedly, now more focused on her food than the conversation. "Especially in the condition I'm in now, I'm nowhere near the walking tanks that those two are. I wasn't lying when I said you wouldn't have a hard time killing me."

She tilted her head at Hiro's silence, looking at him and making eye contact as she tended to do. "Does that change your view on me? I know those two have caused trouble recently after all."

He blinked, before shrugging. "Not really. If anything, it just lets me know what to watch out for with you. I don't really have anything against your race in general, it's just them personally I don't like."


	9. Back to School

The next morning, as Hiro headed through the main room to the door, his head turned to the alien sleeping on the couch, having not moved since she'd been set back down after dinner the day before. Yuri had evidently come by at some point in the night and given the tanned girl a blanket and pillow, as she was now wrapped up and resting peacefully.

Hiro tched at the sight, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder while he got his shoes on, before heading out without a second glance.

He'd played it off yesterday. He'd told her that he didn't care about her being a Trans, that it meant nothing, but he knew that was a lie. It really bothered him that of all species, he'd let one of their kind into his home.

Trans were dangerous. Mikado-sensei was wary of them, and long before Yami appeared on Earth, his parents had also warned of their existence. There wasn't a single one who wasn't trouble, and he'd expected something like the Darkness Incident to eventually happen, long before it actually did. Yami had already shown that his learned hatred was not misplaced, and to a lesser extent, Mea too had only confirmed his suspicions.

His parents and the alien nurse were right. Trans were a race of bullies, and they all were trouble. Nemesis hadn't yet shown any sign of such a character trait, but he had no doubt she eventually would reveal or do something worthy of his mentality.

He was aware it wasn't good to think about an injured person that way, but thoughts were hard to control, and those and similar ideas went through his mind, before he was snapped out of it by a hand tapping his shoulder.

He had to resist the urge to instinctively whirl around and punch whoever it was, though he must have turned a little too quickly, as Okamoto jumped back, stepping back and forth a few times before grinning as he fell in line beside the taller boy.

"You seem mad at something. What happened?" he asked, grinning at his self-proclaimed friend, who sighed, shaking his head.

"Nothing, just home life. You're up late." He'd specifically set his alarm later than normal in the hopes of dodging the boy, but it seemed Okamoto had the same idea. Now that he was caught, there was no choice but to let him join on the walk to school.

"Tabane-chan kept me up studying since she found out I cheated on the summer assignment." Okamoto replied, laughing and patting Hiro's back, to his annoyance. "Thanks for letting me borrow yours, it really helped. I don't think Saero-sensei noticed anything!"

"I didn't give you it, you stole it. Unlike you, I actually care about my grades."

"Aren't you going to become a dojo instructor or something? You've got the talent after all. Then again, guess not many people here know about it yet, huh? Last semester was pretty quiet."

"...You call a quarter of the student body needing therapy quiet?" Hiro asked, turning to the annoying kid. "Just because there's not many human delinquents around anymore doesn't mean that there hasn't been trouble. Aliens have really stepped up their game recently."

"Hey, Yami-senpai was an exception, not the rule, and you really can't blame Lala-senpai for the stuff she's caused, right?"

"I can blame whoever I want. I still don't like them being around."

"You like Run-chan though, don't you?" Okamoto asked, and Hiro sighed, shaking his head and turning to face the direction he was walking.

"I like her music, and she's alright, but I don't have any personal interest in her. I don't think with my lower head."

"Yeah, I guess I get that. You never really were much into romance anyway after everything went down back then. Remember Mura-"

"Don't finish that sentence." Hiro stated, gritting his teeth together, a wave of anger welling up inside him again. "You know I hate thinking about that."

Okamoto frowned, before sighing and crossing his hands behind his head. "It's been 5 years now, don't you think it's about time to forget about all that?"

Hiro hesitated for several seconds, before turning his gaze back to his companion. "Where's your bag?" he asked, and Okamoto blinked, lowering his hands as his eyes went wide.

Okamoto raised his palm to his forehead in shock, making an odd sound as he realized the problem. "I left it at Tabane-chan's house!" he exclaimed, quickly turning around and rushing off, shouting behind him as he ran. "I'll probably be late again, tell Yukihime-san I said hi!"

Hiro stood still just long enough to watch the boy disappear behind a corner, before turning and continuing on his way. Typical Okamoto, shifting personalities at the drop of a hat. At least he could shrug off the earlier topic. He really didn't need to be reminded about anything while he was already dealing with Nemesis being around now.

At least he was free at school, and had no reason to be concerned about the Trans when Yuri was around. Asleep or not, the woman's presence was enough to reassure him that there was nothing to worry about.

He reached to his pocket to pull out his earbuds, setting them in and toggling his phone to play music as he walked in silence. Might as well distract himself the rest of the way to school.

Being later than usual meant that by the time he got to class, it was already mostly full. However, he was ignored for the most part as he made his way to his seat, tapping Haruhi's shoulder in greeting and causing the girl to jump as he slid to his seat in front of her.

""N-Nakamura-san!" she squeaked, before closing her eyes and shaking her head. "H-How are you today?"

"Same as usual, you?" he asked, and she quickly mumbled something unintelligible before shaking her head again.

"A-Alright…" Short and to the point, about all the poor girl could ever really handle.

He smiled at her before turning to face the front of the room, getting out the supplies he needed and resting his head on a hand, thinking over the last day.

He'd promised to take care of Nemesis for at least two weeks, but he doubted he'd actually be able to handle that. It would be fine if it were any other race, or any other of the non-major known aliens here, but a Trans? Especially one he knew absolutely nothing about? That was going to be a problem.

Nemesis appeared to be sincere, but the Darkness Incident had shown very clearly that even the quietest of them could also be the most dangerous. Even if she was trustworthy, there was no telling that Nemesis couldn't become dangerous later on.

He groaned to himself. Such a decision was too much for someone like him to figure out. He had a simple way of life. If you hurt someone, you're the enemy. But that didn't help him at all with preparing for the future, and this wasn't exactly the same as picking a career or getting good grades.

Whatever his decision would be, it was definitely going to get him involved in something he didn't care to think about.


	10. AN

**So I've noticed that since rebooting this series, it has had a very small base, and since that's the case, I figured I'd mention now. Should I bother continuing the series, or should I finally let it die? It's fun to write and I don't want to see it go, but if it just doesn't have enough readers, then there's not really a point when I could be focusing on bigger stuff. So, what do you think?**


	11. The End

**So, yeah. Nobody's really reading this anymore. For the couple of people who did respond, sorry, but I'll be moving on finally. I'm willing to tell you what was going to happen though if you PM me, I think that's a somewhat okay tradeoff.**

 **See ya, Hiro.**


End file.
